The beauty product soothing a generation
Emotional support water bottle < emotional support lip gloss.
Keep scrolling for the TikToker facing backlash for her out-of-touch Met Gala content.
Technology Is Transforming Rap Beef
While the internet is no stranger to drama, it is often relegated to influencer world (BYE SISTER, we're looking at you). However, the recent exchange of diss tracks between Kendrick Lamar and Drake has gone completely viral. While conflict isn't exactly unprecedented in the rap space, C. Brandon Ogbunu and Lupe Fiasco, in a new piece for WIRED, delve into how the digital world has made "beef" a key aspect of the industry.
Hip hop communities and artists have long had a home on the internet. Starting off on message boards and later moving to streaming platforms like YouTube, rap battle leagues emerged, as did hip hop movements like “drill rap.”
But as hip hop has become increasingly mainstream and the music industry has gone digital, “the size of the narrative” has become more important than “the quality.”
“‘Winning’ and ‘losing’ mean everything and nothing, depending on what we care about (e.g., even if Drake is “losing” this beef, it will likely cost him little),” Ogbunu and Fiasco continue. “This all makes conflict so much more intriguing, and drives a distinct flavor of techno-rap beef—one neither better nor worse than the past, just different.”
This change, the authors contend, is driven by three factors.
Firstly, artists are gaining more control over their work and public image, now able to dictate the timing and pace of releases and communicate directly with the public through different platforms.
Secondly, the rampant spread of misinformation online complicates fact-checking, leading fake stories to spread faster than ever before. As a result, when one artist accuses another, many of us are quicker to believe the claim.
“Whether we believe it is mostly about whether we want to believe it, whether the message aligns with our preexisting views,” Ogbunu and Fiasco write. “And while dodgy accusations have always been true in beef raps, the speed through which falsehoods can spread today makes it easier for absurd claims to take on a life of their own.”
In a similar vein, the rise of AI-generated music has changed the expectations of audiences.
“Saying someone employed ghostwriters used to be the most damning accusation in hip-hop. Today there are many more ways to fabricate a song, and fewer ways to tell the difference between us and the robots,” the authors explain.
That being said, the changes in the hip-hop world, the increasingly capitalistic nature of the music industry, and the proliferation of digital communities have created the ideal conditions for rap beef to thrive.
“No advertising campaign can generate the anticipation that rap beef creates, sometimes out of thin air. Whether we are enjoying it or not, we all wait for the next iteration,” Ogbunu and Fiasco note.
Read the story via WIRED.
Why TikToker HaleyyBaylee's Marie Antoinette-inspired Met Gala video went wrong
Aside from Kendrick vs Drake, the Met Gala has dominated the viral space this week. Although few influencers scored an invite this year, TikTok creator HaleyyBaylee — real name Haley Kalil— attended with Marc Bouwer. While some internet users were excited to see her attend, others criticized her for her interpretation of the theme. Lauren Meisner, host of the 'mini scroll podcast,' breaks down the situation in a new episode.
Prior to the event, Haley posted a TikTok to her 10 million followers where she lip-synced to a sound from Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, where she says the iconic quote, “Let them eat cake!”
The video has over 17 million views and the majority of viewers are calling it “dystopian” – comparing it to something out of ‘The Hunger Games,’ especially in the current political and socio-economic climate.
Meisner notes that Marie Antoinette, as a historical figure, symbolises the wealthy elite who exploit the lower and middle classes to satisfy their own desires for wealth.
“For her to post a quirky Marie Antoinette- inspired video at the Met Gala, an event that costs $75,000 a ticket [which is] more than most people's annual salary… it just felt too on the nose,” Meisner says.
Of course, the critique levelled toward Haley is not uncommon. Over the years, many internet users have voiced their problems with the Met Gala.
This year, social media users were particularly disturbed by the theme 'The Garden of Time,' which was inspired by a short story by J.G. Ballard published in 1962.
“It's a story about wealthy people, who are ‘out of touch’ living in their own bubble, and basically unaware that their time is running out,” Meisner continues. “The Met choosing this theme for this year, given everything going on in the world it feels like a huge f—k you to all of us.”
Meisner maintains that the negative reaction to Haley’s video and the Met at large shows how many famous people might choose to remain silent about certain issues.
“It's typically creatives with this type of fame,” she says. “Often creative people are sometimes the biggest critical thinkers… but then when you get to a
certain level [of fame and money], you become part of the problem [and] you probably don't want to accept that”
Watch the full episode via TikTok, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.
Met Gala AI Images of Katy Perry and Rihanna Show Relentless Spread of AI Junk
Speaking of the Met Gala, while everyone was picking their fave outfits on the carpet, AI-generated pictures started circulating— proving how fast misinformation can spread, writes Jules Roscoe for 404 Media.
Among the various AI-generated images that circulated, one depicting Katy Perry in a floral ball gown, seemingly aligning with the "Garden of Time" theme, was the most popular.
“The image is strikingly convincing—its slight blurriness allows even the faces of the photographers in the background to look real,” Roscoe writes.
Many internet users fell for the image, with several even proclaiming Katy as the best-dressed attendee at the event. According to a screenshot of a conversation shared by Katy on her Instagram, the singer's mother was even convinced by the picture.
Social media users are improving (albeit slightly) at distinguishing between AI and genuine content. According to Roscoe, users fell for it this time because the picture was low quality. The image itself also seemed believable—after all, Katy has attended the Met Gala in the past.
“One reason that the Katy Perry image doesn’t easily parse as AI-generated is that it is pretty low resolution, whereas most AI-generated images we see online are often high res, and have that distinct, overly smooth quality common in Stable Diffusion models,” Roscoe explains.
Although there are some inconsistencies in the image's background, few social media users noticed, demonstrating just how convincing and powerful this sort of technology is.
“The AI-generated images of these celebrities, while benign, show how generative AI tools are now a part of every news event,” the journalist concludes.
Read the full story via 404 Media.
Substack courts TikTokers with new ‘creators’ program
As AI runs rampant, creators are worried about how this technology will affect their online careers. This, coupled with a looming TikTok ban in the United States, makes for an extremely volatile creator economy. However, as Taylor Lorenz writes for The Washington Post, Substack is among the platforms taking advantage of this changing environment.
Pivoting from written content, Substack is introducing a new initiative called Substack Creator Studio, aimed at video-oriented creators.
This program hopes to attract TikTok creators to the platform, offering them the opportunity to transform their content into “Substack shows and communities.”
“Now, the best video creators are exploring how they can build their homes on Substack,“ Austin Tedesco, the company’s head of video and podcasting, writes in a blog post. “As instability hits their medium, they’re looking for a reliable platform where they can build a business and have complete ownership over their work.”
As part of the program, Substack will choose 10 fellows to give “give them access to world-class strategic support and promotion.” The platform will be partnering with Adam Faze, the founder of Gymnasium (formerly known as Fazeworld), to guide the fellows.
These fellows will enjoy various benefits, including production and technical assistance, marketing support, and events.
While the Substack Creator Studio is a first-of-its-kind for the platform, it is not Substack’s “first foray” into the world of video.
“The company has rolled out a suite of video tools in the past year as it morphs from a platform primarily for publishing newsletters to a multi media subscription hub,” Lorenz adds.
Read the full story via The Washington Post.
How lip gloss became the answer to Gen Z’s problems
Many of us have an emotional support water bottle, but what about an emotional support lip product? Kyndall Cunningham, in a new piece for Vox, delves into Gen Z’s obsession with lip gloss and how this demographic has transformed it into an identity-defining accessory.
A lot has changed when it comes to beauty trends over the years. While the internet was once obsessed with super matte and overlined lips, users have ditched liquid lipstick for gloss.
As Cunningham notes, the King Kylie era was the last time social media was preoccupied with lips— especially after the youngest Jenner revealed that she had gotten filler.
That being said, full lips are still trendy, but there has been an uptick in people choosing to dissolve their filler to opt for a more natural shape.
The shift toward glossy and balmy products, Cunningham suggests, is a result of Gen Z’s obsession with anything and everything anti-aging.
“As a main focal point of the face, thin, wrinkled lips can be an immediate sign of aging. Getting older means producing less collagen, elastin molecules, and hyaluronic acid, resulting in thinner lips for some people,” she writes. “It’s not a surprise that young people are running to lip products that offer color and a sheen but promise dermatological benefits.”
TikTok has also popularised specific lip products like Rhode’s Peptide Lip Treatments or Summer Fridays’ Lip Butter Balms, where such “lip glosses have become affordable status symbols.”
“We’ve heard of the ‘lipstick effect theory’ in culture, where sales in affordable luxuries, like lip products, skyrocket in times of economic distress,” MacKenzi Nelson, art director at beauty PR company Helen + Gertrude, tells Cunningham. “These small ‘treats,’ if you will, bring a big impact physically and emotionally.”
Read the full piece via Vox.